Pan American Health Organization
The Pan American Health Organization has published an extensive response plan outlining the organization’s strategies to address and combat the impact of COVID-19 globally. Working through its regional and country-based incident management system teams (IMST) in Latin America and the Caribbean, PAHO has been providing direct emergency responses to Ministries of Health and other national authorities. PAHO has coordinated various countries’ readiness and response operations by supporting their disease surveillance and testing capabilities and overall preparedness. The organization has sent out over 18 million COVID-19 tests and 145 shipments of PPE to countries throughout the region. Five countries have received new antigen diagnostic tests from PAHO in a pilot program for rapid testing. PAHO has worked specifically with the Amazonian health authorities to provide testing, oxygen cylinders, and thermometers to hard-to-reach populations. As of April 24th, the PAHO COVID-19 Response Fund has raised $313.7 million to be spent on essential supplies, disease tracking, health system preparation, and research. In addition to providing supplies, PAHO has created an app to educate healthcare workers on the proper use of PPE. PAHO continues to collaborate with other organizations to expand access to medical care. The organization is working with CARICOM to include more caribbean countries in the COVAX Facility and has sent over 8.7 million vaccine doses to Latin American and Caribbean countries through COVAX. Additionally, PAHO signed an agreement with the International Organization for Migration to aid vulnerable populations during the pandemic. PAHO, WHO, World Bank, and UNICEF have developed the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Tool (VIRAT), an online platform that evaluates country vaccine preparation plans.
PAHO maintains a hub for COVID-19 data, including a dashboard with epidemiological data updated daily. PAHO has also published an interactive map showing cumulative cases reported by countries and territories. COVID-19 courses are available on PAHO’s Virtual Campus for Public Health (SPA-POR). PAHO has supported more than 500 hospitals in 15 countries to carry out a “COVID-19 Readiness” self-assessment. The organization has developed, published, and disseminated evidence-based technical documents to help guide member states’ strategies and policies to manage this pandemic in their territories. Additionally, PAHO has released Best Practice recommendations for preventing and recovery from outbreaks based on successful strategies in member countries. PAHO has also released communication graphics and videos for the public on topics such as COVID-19 hygiene, mental health, domestic violence, and other COVID-19 adjacent topics. Furthermore, it has called for increased awareness and treatment of issues such as diabetes and mental health disorders that can be made worse by COVID-19.
Related Country Pages
The following country pages document PAHO’s response to the pandemic in specific areas, or contain links to further resources about PAHO.
Select resources for PAHO:
To learn more about PAHO, visit http://www.paho.org/.
Pan American Health Organization. (n.d.). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. https://www.paho.org/en/topics/coronavirus-infections/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-pandemic.
————. (n.d.). COVAX Vaccines COVID-19 Arrivals in Latin America. https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMjA5ZDAxMmEtYTljNC00M2I0LWE5MjUtYWQzZGQxNDc4OThhIiwidCI6ImU2MTBlNzljLTJlYzAtNGUwZi04YTE0LTFlNGIxMDE1MTlmNyIsImMiOjR9.
————. (n.d.). COVID-19: Communication Materials. https://www.paho.org/en/covid-19-communication-materials.
————. (n.d.). COVID-19 critical items. https://www.paho.org/en/doing-business-paho/covid-19-critical-items.
————. (n.d.). COVID-19 Information System for the Region of Americas. https://paho-covid19-response-who.hub.arcgis.com.
————. (n.d.). COVID-19: Scaling up Laboratory Testing Strategy. https://www.paho.org/en/events/covid-19-scaling-laboratory-testing-strategy.
————. (n.d.). Epidemic Diseases – COVID-19 Effective Reproductive Number by Country. https://ais.paho.org/phip/viz/COVID19Rt.asp.
————. (n.d.). The PAHO COVID-19 response fund. http://www.paho.org/en/topics/coronavirus-infections/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-pandemic/paho-covid-19-response-fund.
————. (n.d.). PAHO/WHO Representative Dr. Noreen Jack updates the country on the efforts being done to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Belize. https://www.paho.org/en/news/21-4-2020-pahowho-representative-dr-noreen-jack-updates-country-efforts-being-done-prevent.
————. (n.d.). PAHO’s Response in the Region. https://www.paho.org/en/covid-19/pahos-response-region.
————. (n.d.). Response to COVID-19 Outbreak in the Region of the Americas. https://www.paho.org/en/documents/response-covid-19-outbreak-region-americas.
————. (n.d.). Technical Documents – Coronavirus Disease. https://www.paho.org/en/technical-documents-coronavirus-disease-covid-19.
————. (n.d.). Weekly Press Briefing on the COVID-19 Situation in the Americas. https://www.paho.org/en/media/weekly-press-briefing-covid-19-situation-americas.
————. (2020, July 27). “Stronger Together” campaign to highlight importance of psychosocial support during times of stress and crisis. https://www.paho.org/en/news/27-7-2020-stronger-together-campaign-highlight-importance-psychosocial-support-during-times.
————. (2020, July 28). PAHO, COICA and other indigenous groups seek to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on Amazonian peoples. https://www.paho.org/en/news/28-7-2020-paho-coica-and-other-indigenous-groups-seek-reduce-impact-covid-19-amazonian-peoples.
————. (2020, August 4). PAHO Director warns of disruptions in regular health services due to COVID-19. https://www.paho.org/en/news/4-8-2020-paho-director-warns-disruptions-regular-health-services-due-covid-19.
————. (2020, October 9). PAHO and IOM sign agreement to improve the health of 70 million migrants in the Americas. https://www.paho.org/en/news/9-10-2020-paho-and-iom-sign-agreement-improve-health-70-million-migrants-americas.
————. (2020, November 5). Countries are falling short in implementing mental health services during COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.paho.org/en/news/5-11-2020-countries-are-falling-short-implementing-mental-health-services-during-covid-19.
————. (2020, November 10). Rapid antigen tests arriving in countries to assist in COVID-19 response in the Americas. https://www.paho.org/en/news/10-11-2020-rapid-antigen-tests-arriving-countries-assist-covid-19-response-americas.
————. (2020, November 12). PAHO calls for improving diabetes control to prevent complications and severe COVID-19. https://www.paho.org/en/news/12-11-2020-paho-calls-improving-diabetes-control-prevent-complications-and-severe-covid-19.
